


'i think she's just broken'

by Erin_kate



Category: RWBY
Genre: Good Emerald Sustrai, I just love emerald okay, Minor Violence, Other, She deserves a redemption arc, Volume 8 (RWBY), dwvhavdwa how do i do tags
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-20
Updated: 2021-01-29
Packaged: 2021-03-18 22:02:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28874289
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Erin_kate/pseuds/Erin_kate
Summary: After using the Relic to ask the one question she really wants the answer to, Emerald is left defeated - and when Salem finds out, things don't go as she hoped. But sometimes, all you need is a trio of misfit huntsmen to help.
Relationships: Cinder Fall & Emerald Sustrai, Jaune Arc & Oscar Pine, Mercury Black & Emerald Sustrai, Oscar Pine & Yang Xio Long & Jaune Arc & Lie Ren, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added, Yang Xio Long & Jaune Arc & Lie Ren
Comments: 4
Kudos: 38





	1. 1 -  too bad i don't believe you.

**Author's Note:**

> OKAY so welcome to my first RWBY fic. I got into the series back in 2017 but fell out of it until Volume 8 came about - so I somehow motivated myself to write a fanfic about it because Volume 8 is pretty pog so far.
> 
> I did kinda switch the timeline here so do bear with me - only a few things have changed. I made it so that Mercury and Tyrian haven't left for Vacuoe yet, and Ren hasn't unlocked the other part of his semblance which allows him to see peoples feelings. Other than that, everything will happen post V8E7.
> 
> Feedback is always appreciated, since I'm really not the best writer and I need to get better. All of this is based on my own hopes for an Emerald redemption arc this volume (and I do have ideas for it to continue into V9 because I overthought this wayyyyy too much.
> 
> Enjoy! :))

"You did...what?"

Emerald was shaking like mad. Salem already terrified her when she was on her good side, but being on her bad side...

She'd seen what happened to people who defied Salem. And she didn't want to be one of them.

"I-I used the lamp, ma'am. I wasn't thinking straight, I'm... I'm sorry..."

Maybe admitting the truth would get her out of more trouble. Maybe Salem would take pity on her. Maybe she would let her go, just make her leav-

"Everyone, leave. I think dear Emerald and I need to have a little _chat_."

Fuck.

The green-haired girl glanced frantically around the room as her supposed team-mates left her. Each of them had varying levels of happiness - Watts didn't seem to care, Tyrian scurried away in joy, Hazel gave her a sad glance, Neo frowned and turned back quickly, Mercury tried to look neutral but his hurt-filled eyes betrayed him as he mouthed a quick goodbye to his partner, and Cinder...

Cinder just smirked.

_So Jinn was right..._

Emeralds eye's filled with tears as she turned back to the terrifying woman sat on a chair above her, the silence surrounding the two speaking volumes.

"What did you ask, child." 

Emerald panicked. She didn't want to say what she really asked - it was pathetic, and if Salem found out she'd wasted a question of asking something Mercury had been telling her for years, she'd be killed in an instant. Her mind whirred as she thought of a solution to her very bad predicament.

"I-I asked how we defeat Atlas, ma'am." 

"And...?" Salem closed her crimson eyes, waiting for Emeralds story to unfold.

"Sh- Jinn said that we need to overwhelm them all at once. I-If we target Mantle instead of Atlas, or make it seem like we are, all of their main forces will be to pre-occupied w-with fighting off our ground forces, meaning we'll have a better chance at getting the relic." The girl stammered, her voice wavering slightly more with every word she spoke.

"Hmm..." 

Salem opened her eyes again, staring down the clearly terrified child before her.

"You know Emerald, that isn't such a bad idea."

Emerald gave a quick, almost silent sigh of relief. Until the Hound grabbed her from behind and brought her closer to Salem.

"Too bad I don't believe you."

The Hound dropped her at Salem's feet, causing her to fall into a crumpled heap on the floor. She tried to stand back up but was quickly knocked to the ground with one swift kick from her 'queen'. "I do like you, Emerald. I think you could be a real asset to our team if you weren't so emotional, what with your semblance and all." She gave a quick pause. "I know what you asked, I can see it written all over your face."

Emerald shook her head a miniscule amount, muttering under her breath for forgiveness.

"Since I don't like to kill off my assets, I'll let you live. But for what you did, you, child, have hell to pay." Salem gave her a smile before the Hound grabbed Emerald again, dragging her out of the room into a side chamber as she screamed for mercy.

\---

Emerald limped down the corridor, cradling her bleeding arm with her other one. This was not good. This was so not good.

Is this what she was telling Hazel to do to Oscar? Was is even worse? Even though she felt like it couldn't get any worse than what she'd just endure, she was sure it could be. She felt bad for the poor boy - it wasn't his fault he was chosen to be Ozpin's next 'vessel'.

Now she can see why Salem called her emotional, to an extent. She shouldn't pity the enemy, especially not one as powerful as him. She shouldn't pity anyone - none of the other people she works alongside feel any pity for anyone they hurt, so why does she? 

Mercury always said she was a soft touch. A few months after he joined their team, they'd found a stray alley kitten and Emerald had begged to keep it. She treasured that cat more than anything else ; it reminded her so much of herself. Then one day it left and never came back. "Things move on Emerald, you need to learn to as well." Cinder had told her that nig-

_Cinder._

Her thoughts snapped out of her reminiscing and snapped back to reality, where she noticed her eyes begin to fill with tears.

She didn't care. She never did.

How could she have been such an idiot not to notice?

Mercury told her. He knew. He told her time and time again and she didn't listen, she tried to block it out because she knew Cinder cared secretly, even though she didn't show it she _knew_ that she did and so Emerald kept following her blindly, never once doubting her-

Her thoughts were racing inside her mind, getting so loud that she couldn't hear any rational thoughts anymore. She fell to her knees, wincing in pain as she covered her ears, trying to get the bad things in her head to leave. She leaned against the wall, her breaths getting heavier and heavier but still nothing happened to make the thoughts stop.

It was like she couldn't breathe anymore. Nothing else mattered.

The tears flowed freely down her face, her shaking arms unable to reach up and wipe them away. 

Cinder never cared. Cinder never cared. Cinder never _cared_.

Everything she'd worked for all these years, gone. 

She sat like this for what felt like hours, trying desperately to control her rapid breaths. When she finally did, she had no energy to move anymore. It hurt to think, it hurt to move her eyes, it hurt. 

And so she didn't think. She didn't move her eyes. She sat perfectly still, only quivering slightly every few seconds out of pure fear that still wouldn't leave her. 

Then she heard the voices. 

They were faint at first, so faint she couldn't place them. It wasn't anyone she's seen recently, she knew that - she could identify everyone with her just by a snippet of their evil laugh. So who else could it be? Surely Salem wouldn't invite anyone onto th-

"What if he's not conscious Yang? Then we'd have to carry him." One person attempted to talk in hushed tones, not realising how load he actually was.

She knew that name. She knew that voice. It was the Beacon kids.

"Jaune I told you, I'll carry him. But first we need to actually find the guy!" Yang stated, clearly not bothering to be as quiet as the others, which Emerald could tell they didn't appreciate by the shushes that followed straight after.

"Maybe we should stop talking and start searching guys. We haven't got long." The 'huntsmen' walked into Emeralds hazy view - It was the Yang, Jaune and the guy Mercury dubbed 'Ninja Man' due to always forgetting his name. 

This wasn't the usual team - typically it was Ruby, Wiess, Blake and Yang in one team, and the other three in a pack together. This was different. But Emerald didn't have time to worry about that now.

The trio kept walking for a moment, not noticing the green-haired figure on the floor, until Jaune gasped and stopped in his tracks. The others glanced over to see what the blonde was looking at, before also adopting the same shocked expression. 

"Emerald...?" Yang was the first to speak, taking a step towards the girl before being held back by the other two.

"What if it's a trap?"

"Yeah, Ren's right. It wouldn't be the first time they'd done something like this."

"Hurting their own faction? Really? That's pushing it..." Yang frowned, her eyebrows knotting together with slight worry. 

"Have you met Salem's people? I'm fairly sure they'd do anything. We need to keep searching." Ren turned to go down a nearby corridor, but stopped again when he noticed he wasn't being followed. "Guys, you coming?"

"Ren, what if she's actually hurt? We're huntsmen now, we're supposed to help everyone." Jaune turned to look at his dark haired friend. Yang had already started walking towards the girl, Ember Cecelia still loaded just in case. 

Jane and Ren continued to argue in quiet annoyance as Yang crouched down next to Emerald, inspecting her injuries slowly. Emerald, still scared after what happened mere hours earlier, shuffled away frantically, wincing in pain as her arm brushed against the wall.

"Hey. Stop moving." Emerald froze immediately, staring at the other female as she looked at Emeralds arm. "The more you move, the more it'll hurt. What happened?"

Emerald didn't know what to do. This was someone she'd been fighting for years - she'd helped destroy her school, she'd been the main cause of her sisters best friends death, she was on the other side of a _war_ to her. So why was Yang showing her pity? 

If Cinder had been here, she'd have called Yang weak for trying to help Emerald, said she shouldn't let emotion get in the way of a mission. But clearly the self-proclaimed 'good guys' didn't think of it like Cinder did, otherwise the other two wouldn't be walking over to help too.

"What's the situation then Yang." 

"Her arm looks real bad, and her left leg and face are pretty torn up too. Not major injuries minus the leg, but she'd still need help."

"Well that's not our problem, is it. She's working for the other side." Ren shook his head at his other teammates in disbelief. He clearly didn't think helping her was the best idea.

To be fair, if she was in their situation, she'd probably think the same thing.

"Ren, we can't leave her. It's not right."

"But she's working for Salem! She's the enemy - she's meant to be evil!" Emerald flinched as he raised his voice, still clutching her arm close to her for protection.

Yang stared down at Emerald, not looking Ren in the eye as she replied. 

"I don't think she's evil. I think she's just broken."


	2. 2 - that's not a plan i can get behind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our new team of 4 set off to locate the smol farm boy, and Ren is a voice of reason.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello again! ty to anyone still reading this - i plan to hopefully update this every few days but i can't make any promises as i'm currently pretty busy trying to make my twitch streams better in my free time. but anyways, i hope you enjoy! xx

  
"I think she's broken."

Emerald stared at the blonde in front of her, something within her making up. Her mouth twisted into a small frown.

Emerald Sustrai was far from broken, thank you very much - and she wasn't about to let a group of people she'd been fighting with for years now think she was just some weak child.

She needed them to see she was of value, she was capable. Maybe, like Salem, if they knew she was an asset, they wouldn't leave her.

"I-I'm not broken. I can help." She hated for voice for being so hoarse at that moment in time. She cleared her throat and started again, trying to muster up as much confidence as she could. "I know where your friend is."

That got their attention. All of their eyes widened, even ninja man, who had been wholly against the idea of helping her a whole 20 seconds ago.

"Where is he."

She could use this to her advantage now. She had something they wanted, now she could get something in return.

"I'll only tell you if you give me something in return."

Emeralds eyes flickered over to Ren again, who had his weapon still clutched in his hand. "Show us where he is, and them we'll talk."

"That's not how this works. You agree to my terms, then I show you where the kid is."

Even though she didn't want to, she still sounded mysteriously villain-like. She sighed, vowing to alter her approach. " Look, all I want is help getting out of here. Please. I-... I don't want to be here any more."

The three exchanged looks, all puzzled by her request.

"You want to leave?" Yang spoke quietly, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Yes." She kept her answer concise.

"But why?" Jaune asked, putting his sword away slowly, the first of the heroes to lower their weapons.

 _Because Cinder doesn't care. Because Mercury won't want to be seen with me now because he'll think I'm weak. Because I don't like this life any more._ There were many different answers she could give, but she didn't. After all, these people were still technically against her, if she spilled any information now it could really come back to bite her.

She thought back to a conversation with Tyrian and she knew what to say.

"I know Salem's planning to end the world. And that's not a plan I can get behind." She bit her lip, turning her sight back down to the floor. After a few seconds, she heard a clunk and tilted her head back up to find the rest of the weapons away.

"Where is he."

\---

She lead them down the twisting corridors, only limping slightly now her leg had had some time to heal. Even after what felt like weeks of being here, all the hallways looked the same to her - but she had a vague idea of the way.

"How much further?" Jaune asked, appearing by her side so suddenly that it startles the girl slightly, causing her to jump. She tried to play it off by running a hand through her hair, giving a quick sigh.

"It should take a few minutes at most. I don't think Hazel is due in there any time soon."

"What do you mean, 'Hazel due in there'?" Yang enquired, a slither of fear in her stone cold voice.

Oh god. This wasn't going to end well.

"S-Salem knew he knew the password for the lamp. And when Salem wants something done in here, she likes to use brute force. And by that, I mean she gets Hazel to beat him up..."

The trio of shocked faces meant Emerald didn't need them to express their horror for the situation with words.

"How long has this been going on...?!" The fear was now starting to push to the forefront of the angered blondes personality, her eyes starting to flicker to their crimson colour that typically meant trouble.

"I-I don't know, I'm sor-"

"You're gonna be even _more_ sorry when we find him! Why did you not try to save him, huh? If you don't want to be here any more, what's stopping you from helping him and getting out?" Yang approached the green-haired girl with imposing strides, causing the latter to start backing slowly into the wall. This personality change scared her more than she'd like to admit - she'd seemed so calm before, being the first to help her ; now she was borderline _screaming_ at her.

"You need to be quiet or the-"

Once again, Emerald was cut off. "Yang, calm down. You can argue later, but right now, we need Emerald and we need her fast. We haven't got long before the bomb destroys this place." Ren spoke quietly but still managed to capture everyone's attention.

It took Emerald a few seconds to digest what he said.

" _Bomb_?!"

Ren nodded, keeping his composure once more. "We haven't got very long. I suggest we keep moving."

Emerald froze in place. Everything she cared about was in here. Sure, she wasn't attached to Watts or Salem, and definitely not to Tyrian, but she cared about the others a bit. Neo had worked with her in the past and wasn't a bad companion, Hazel had took Mercury and her under his wing. Though she wasn't attached to either of them, she didn't want them to be blown up.

And Mercury - he'd been her partner for so, so long. As much as he annoyed her, she felt closer to him than anyone else she'd known. If he died, she didn't know what she'd do...

And _Cinder_.

As much as it hurt to admit, she still cared about Cinder more than she should. She was like a second mother to the girl, someone who she idolized, who she looked up to. Even after the lamps sort-of-revelation, she couldn't shake the feeling of love she felt for the woman.

"Emerald? We need to keep moving." Jaune's voice echoed through her and she shook her head, trying to stay grounded in reality.

"Right, right. I'm sorry, we're nearly there." She walked at a brisker pace, turning left at the next 'crossroad' and continuing walking further into the belly of the beast.

\---

Finally, they stood outside the door.

It was time.

"Okay just... brace yourselves okay? Th-This isn't going to be pretty." The three nodded at Emerald as she opened the door to the makeshift cell.

Upon seeing the prisoner of their crew for the first proper time, Em was horrified. Their were no other words to describe what Hazel had done other than 'beaten him black and blue'. The floor around him was stained with crimson circle, and in the centre of it, his limp body was hanging by the wrists. She gasped silently.

_Hazel, what have you done..._

The others were all stunned, tears even threatening to pour down Jaune's face. It must be horrific, seeing the small boy they knew so well looking like a corpse before them.

_She knew the feeling well._

They stood in shocked silence for a moment, none of them daring to say a word.

Emerald decided she should jump into action first, and got _Thief's Respite_ out to cut the chains binding his wrists to the bony-looking statue. She caught him as he tumbled towards the ground, placing him gently just out of the way of the blood that oozed on the floor. Seeing her do this seemed to wake the others from their shocked state as they rushed over to help out, worried expressions playing on all their faces. These died down slightly as Oscar began to stir awake, his pupils dilating as he opened his eyes groggily.

"Oscar, you're okay!" Jaune encased the farm boy into a tight hug, only letting go when he realised it might have brought Oscar some pain - which it did. Yang and Ren bent down to join the huddle, Emerald being ushered aside as the group of 4 were re-united.

It was sweet, how close they were. Emerald wished their group had that kind of dynamic. The way Jaune hugged Oscar...

It had been so long since she'd been hugged. God, she missed it.

After a few minutes, she realised once again that time was against them, and she tapped Jaune lightly on the shoulder, knowing he'd be the least likely to kill her for touching him. "Erm, I don't wanna break up the moment, but we kind of need to get moving."

"Oh yeah, right! Yang, can you get Oscar on your back?"

Yang gave a nod and crouched down, allowing Ren to lift the small boy onto the taller girl's back. She stood back up with him firmly in place. "Okay, let's get moving. How long do we have, Ren?"

Ren got out his scroll and checked a timer he'd set - "32 minutes. Judging by how long it took to get in here, I'd say we have plenty of time." He turned back to face Emerald. "You know the way to the closest hanger?"

"Duh." She stated, trying to seem more confident in her ability to navigate the perfectly alike hallways than she actually was.

"Then," The ninja began as he moved towards the door, "Let's go."


	3. 3 - its mercury to you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A frantic talk doesn't go the way it was planned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hiiiiiii again! thank you do much for all the kudos', it's really appreciated! i have to write these in the middle of my online lessons so they aren't really the longest, so I'm sorry ;-;  
> but anyways, onto chapter 3 x

Ren fired off a message to the Ace-Ops team as they ran down the winding hallways, telling them which side they would be on for the pick-up. Winter responded immediately, which made him smile.

Nice having a reliable person when it came to messages on the team for once.

He put it back into his pocket and sprinted back up to Emerald's side before slowing his pace down. "How much further?" 

"Nearly there." Emerald answered flatly, her green locks flowing behind her as though the wind was blowing right in front of her.

Emerald was, quite frankly, too scared to bother working out how long it would actually take in order to satisfy Ren. She was worried.

A bomb was about to blow up. A bomb that she would have been on the wrong end of if she wasn't in the right place at the right time. 

What would have happened if she didn't know? What would she have been unknowingly spending her last moments alive doing? It probably would have been her sat on her own trying to convince herself that the Lamp was wrong. 

What would it look like to everyone else? She'd like to think it would be like a crimson fireworks show - red lights brightening up the night sky. She was sure that would be someone like Tyrian's favourite way to die - really going out with a bang. She was about to find that out too - she was sure she could get a good view from wherever they landed - it was a pretty big Grimm.

But more importantly, would it hurt?

Thankfully she wouldn't find out the answer to that last question, but a few people would.

Mercury would.

Shit.

She froze in her tracks, her voice wavering as she spoke. "Guys, there's something I need to do."

"What? We need to go. We have just under 20 minutes and we need to be out of range." Ren replied.

"No. I-I... please. It'll only take a few minutes, tops. I can't just leave him."

"Him?" Jaune crossed his arms. "Do you mean Mercury?"

She reluctantly nodded, her eyes dawning a slight look of panic. "I can't just let him die. I know you all hate him, and I know you all still hate me, but I... care about him. I can't just know there's a bomb coming to kill him and not do anything about it!"

"So what are you planning to do? Let him escape with us?! Because I'll be honest, I'm not letting him in our airship. It's bad enough us letting one enemy come with us, let alone two." Yang stated as she adjusted Oscar on her back slightly. 

"No, I just need to tell him. Please. I have to give him a chance. I won't take long, I-I swear I won't." Emerald pleaded, her hands balling into small, tight fists of worry.

The three walked toward each other and began whispering in hushed voices. Emerald strained to try and catch a word, and the ones she heard weren't what she wanted to hear ; "too risky"..."unsafe"..."no time." 

Fuck. This seemed bad.

After a minute or so, the group turned back to face the desperate emerald-haired girl and Jaune stepped forward. "You haven't got long. We leave in 15 minutes and if you aren't there, we leave without you. We can't take the risk of staying any longe-"

Emerald didn't need to wait. She turned on her heels and sprinted in the direction of the dormitories, shouting at the others as she left. "Hanger is next entrance on the right. I'll be back, I promise!"

She twisted down the hallways, her leather combat boots hitting against the 'floor' of the giant whale Grimm and making an ominous echoing sound.

15 minutes wasn't long.

But it was long enough.

\--- 

Finally, after 5 minutes of running, she was stood outside his door.

She had just less than 5 minutes to talk to him. 

5 minutes. to warn him, 5 minutes to say her goodbyes - possibly forever.

Forever was a long time...

Hesitantly, she stepped inside after opening the entrance, and her blood red eyes locked onto his. He looked surprised to see her, and he was even more surprised to see tears overflowing from her eyes and rolling down her hurt face.

"Emerald? Are you okay?!" 

She took a step forward and pulled him into a tight hug, which he eventually reciprocated in a hesitant manner after a few seconds. After a while, she stepped back and turned to face him once more.

"You need to get out Merc. They're gonna blow this place sky high, they told me. And I-I had to tell you because I don't want you to die, and I know you're probably angry at me because I'm leaving but I'm telling you it's for the best, I pro-" Emerald spoke as fast as she could, the words she wanted to say that she'd planned in her head tumbling out in a jumbled mess that Mercury couldn't quite comprehend. He held up a hand and cut her off.

"Hold up, Em. What?"

She took a deep breath and started again.

"I saw the Beacon kids again. They came to rescue Oscar. They found me after, well, Salem did what she wanted too and I was panicked. I asked them to help me get off and they said the would if I told them where Oscar was."

Mercury's eyebrows raised slightly but his expression remained stoic, waiting for her to continue. 

"So I showed them where he was and they told me that they were going to drop a bomb in. It explodes in 15 minutes. You need to get out."

Now his face changed, first into a look of confusion and then into one of anger, with a hint of fear tugging at the corners of his mouth.

"So, what you're saying is, you decided to team up with the people we've been fighting for _years_ just to save _yourself_?" He spat out, staring at the girl before him. She broke eye contact first, turning to face the wall. 

"No, No, It's not like that...I can't go on like this Merc. I don't know who I am anymore, I don't know why I'm here, I don't know why I used the lamp for such a stupid thing..."

"What did you ask?"

She stopped, staring down at her shoes in guilt. "I asked if Cinder cared about me. It said no."

Mercury gave a small triumphant smile, but quickly lost it when Emerald turned up to look at him once more with a broken frown.

"I know you kept telling me, you can say 'I told you so' as much as you want. But now I know I have nothing else here to do. I'm not fighting for the right reasons. The only person I care about here now is... well, you I guess. But you probably hate me too. I had to tell you, it wouldn't be right."

The silver haired boy gave a sigh and nodded slowly. "Thank you."

Emerald started to ramble again, her voice now filled with hope more than anxiety. "You could come with us, you know. Steal an airship, start a new life. We could go together..."

He shook his head.

"Emerald, I'm not like you. I can't just stop now, not now that I'm so far in to this thing. I'm not a quitter."

That made her pause. 

A _quitter_?

Was he calling her a quitter...?

It seemed he realised his mistake too, as he frantically tried to excuse what he said, but she wasn't listening to it any more. 

"I'm not a quitter. I'm doing what I think is right now. And if you don't join me, then I guess your against me." Her cold, hard words hit Mercury more than he would admit, but he still stood his ground. 

He didn't want to go against Emerald. He really didn't.

_Sometimes you have to do things you don't want to do._ His Dad's voice echoed in his mind.

Mercury's dad was wrong about a lot of things, he would be the first to admit that. But that sentence...

Maybe on that, his Dad was right.

"Then I guess we're enemies." He stated.

Emerald narrowed her eyes before backing away from her ex-partner and stepping out of the door. 

"Goodbye, Merc."

"It's _Mercury_ to you." 

Emerald inhaled sharply but managed to compose herself. She turned away once more and ran away, back to the airship she knew was waiting. 

She didn't need him.

She didn't need him...

She knew she'd have to repeat that sentence a thousand times more before she believed it was true, but that didn't matter any more.

What mattered was getting out of this place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as always, tips and constructive criticism are appreciated - hope you enjoyed! x

**Author's Note:**

> ty for reading - i know it's awful but im trying! next chapter will be out soon hopefully :))


End file.
